Salisbury cancer patients rate their care highly in national survey

Cancer patients at Salisbury District Hospital have rated their care highly with 94% of those asked saying that it was excellent or very good in a national survey carried out by Quality Health on behalf of NHS England.

Over 340 patients responded to the questionnaire which covered the patient’s diagnosis and treatment, confidence in staff, hospital information and the support that they received at home.

The Trust performed well in the survey and was in the top 20% of best performing Trusts in many of the questions that related to the hospital. In summary, of those asked:

94% rated their care as excellent or very good

94% said they were always given enough privacy when being examined or treated

93% said they were given a choice of different types of treatment

92% said they got understandable answers to important questions all/most of the time from their clinical nurse specialist

91% said that overall they were given the right amount of information about their condition and treatment

86% said that staff did everything to help control pain

85% felt they were told sensitively that they had cancer

The survey did identify some areas for improvement, particularly in the provision of written information during treatment and discharge. We also plan to give more encouragement to patients who wish to bring a friend to sensitive consultations.

Christine Blanshard, Medical Director, said: “It’s essential that we provide a caring and sensitive environment for all our patients and that they have confidence in our staff and the level of care and treatment they receive at Salisbury District Hospital. Overall our patients rated the care they received very highly, with privacy, pain control and the provision of information other positive areas highlighted in this survey.

“While this survey reflects positively on the service we provide, we feel there are areas that we will want to look at ourselves to further improve our patients’ experience and this will be covered in the action plan that we are now developing following the survey.”